An Overview of Selected Learning Theories about Student Learning

1. An Overview of Selected Learning Theories about Student Learning Sanjay Goel www.goelsan.wordpress.com Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida, India sanjay.goel@jiit.ac.in, goelsan@yahoo.com Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

2. Computing Education • Weakest contribution of engineering education in computing related disciplines is in (58 professionals) • Decision making ability 41% • Thinking ability 24% • Procedural knowledge 15% • Conceptual Knowledge 15% • Learning ability 3% Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

3. 1. Soloway’s 1983 study at Yale: “The Rainfall Problem”: Write a program that repeatedly reads in positive integers, until it reads the integer 99999. After seeing 99999, it should print out the average. Only 14% of students CS1 could solve this problem correctly. 2. Hestenes’ 1985 study: 80% students could state Newton’s Third Law at the beginning of the course… <15% of them fully understood it at the end. 3. McCracken’s 2001 MIMN study wrt CS1: WAP to evaluate arithmetic expressions in a text file. The average score of 215 students was 21%. Many of the participants never got past the design part of the problem to write any code at all. 4. Tew’s 2010 PhD thesis 3 universities wrt CS1: Majority of her 952 test-takers failed both pseudo-code and native language exams, based on a small subset of what anyone teaches in CS1. Mark Guzdia, Education - From Science to Engineering: Exploring the dual nature of computing education research, CACM Feb 2011 Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

4. National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

5. Stages of Intellectual Development, W.G. Perry, 1970 • Two Central interwoven dynamics: • Confronting and coping with diversity and multiples: • Multiple opinions about a given subject or issue (1-3); • Multiple contexts/perspectives from which to understand or analyze issues or arguments (4 - 6); • Multiple Commitments through which one defines his or her values and identity (7 - 9). • Evolution of meaning making about learning and self • Knowledge is seen as increasingly conjectural and uncertain, open to (and requiring) interpretation • Role of the student -- moving from a passive receptor of facts to an active agent in defining arguments and creating new knowledge. • Role of the teacher -- moving from an Authority as the source of "Truth" to an authority as a resource with specific expertise to share. Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

6. Stages of Intellectual Development, W.G. Perry, 1970 Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

7. Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

8. What kind of learning experiences caused the forward movement? Unexpected results. Questions regarding evidence and choice. Variety of Observation. Absence of satisfactory answers from authority. Assignment at Bloom’s higher level, application in new context. Engagement in Reasoning. Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

9. Learning retention rates: Some results 5% Lecture 10% What we read 15% What we see 20% Audio-Visual 20% What we see and hear 20% What we hear 26% What we hear 30% What we see 30% Passive Verbal 30% Demonstration 40% What we discuss 50% Visual Receiving 50% See and hear 50% Discussion Group 70% Discuss with others 70% Active Receiving and Participating 70% Say 70% Say and Write 70% Say or Write 70% Say as they talk 75% Practice by Doing 80% Experience Personally 80% What we experience directly or practice doing 90% Say as they do a thing 90% Say and perform a task 90% Teach to others/Immediate Use 90% What we attempt to teach others 95% of what we teach someone else Sources: Bruce Nyland, 1950’s Wiman and Mierhenry, 1960, 1969 Standard Oil of NY Socony-Vacuum Oil Company Dale and Nyland, 1985 Nyland/Dole, 1972 NTL Institute James Stice, 1984 Seminar Gustafson, 1985 Brady, 1989 Glasser, 1990 Bruce Nyland, 2000 Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

10. AndrogogyKnowles, 1970 • Learners need to know why they need to learn something. • Adults need to learn experientially. • Adults approach learning as problem-solving. • Adults learn best when the topic is of immediate value. Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

11. What working IT engineers think about Teaching Methods?, SPINE based Study, 2004-05 Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

12. Effective lecturing in engineering and computing courses, 2005-06? • Documentation: 250 Anecdotes of most effective lecture • 110 anecdotes of as recalled by computing students • 99 anecdotes of as recalled by faculty from their student days • 43 anecdotes of as recalled by faculty as teachers. • Observations • Most effective lectures were found to have at least one form of active and collaborative learning strategies e.g., problem solving, group work, discussions, critique and so on: • 90% anecdotes by final year students • 55% anecdotes by second year students • 80% anecdotes by faculty members (as students) • 94% anecdotes by faculty members (as teachers) Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

13. What students think about lectures attributes? Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com Goel Sanjay (2006), Do Engineering Faculty Know What’s Broken? The National Teaching & Learning Forum, Vol 15 Number 2, USA

14. Table A10.1: Effectiveness of educational experiences for competency enhancement of software developers67 Software developers - (How) Did your college help you in your development?” Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

15. Two Core Principles Related to Learning • Cognitive Dissonance Leon Festinger (1957) • Humans are sensitive to inconsistencies between actions and beliefs. • Recognition of an inconsistency results in cognitive dissonance, and motivates an individual to resolve the dissonance. • Dissonance can be resolved in one of three ways: • change in beliefs, • change actions, or • change perception of actions. • Cognitive Flexibility Rand Spiro (1991) • The ability to ‘transfer’ what learners have learned in a context, to different, even unique situations is referred to as ‘cognitive flexibility’ • In advanced knowledge domains, interconnectedness of ideas must be emphasized. • For deeper learning, Information must be presented in a variety of ways and contexts Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

16. Teaching Socrates Galileo Einstein Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

17. Teaching Socrates I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think. Galileo You cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him to find it for himself. Einstein I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn. Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

18. Bloom’s Taxonomy: Levels of Cognition What students think they get to do? calculate, explain, prove(studied theorem, studied method), define (studied definitions), write, solve, compute, show (studied fact, studied method), evaluate(computation), derive, state, describe, determine, find, analyze, justify, … What students think works well for them wrt learning? design, analyze, understand, build, apply, adapt, implement, create, develop, demonstrate, validate, define (new things), show (unstudied fact in the direct context of studied material) , illustrate, compare, enjoy, correlate, argue, research, evaluate (the options), ... What professional engineers recommend ? analyse, design, develop, implement, evaluate (the options), integrate, build, conclude, define (new things), acquire, demonstrate, justify, assess, organize, formulate, estimate, summarize, categorize, validate, … • Goel Sanjay and Sharda Nalin (2004), What do engineers want? Examining engineering education through Bloom’s taxonomy, Conference of Australasian Association of Engineering Education, September, 2004, Australia. • Goel Sanjay (2004), What is high about higher education : Examining Engineering Education Through Bloom’s Taxonomy, The National Teaching & Learning Forum, Vol. 13 Number 4, pp 1-5, USA. Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

19. Bloom levels What students think they get ? What students get in exams ? What students think works well for them ? What engineers recommend ? Rating Comparison Knowledge 0.24 0.36 0.04 0.09 Comprehen-sion 0.24 0.16 0.11 0.10 Application 0.22 0.40 0.13 0.10 Analysis 0.14 0.04 0.15 0.19 Synthesis 0.14 0.05 0.46 0.38 Evaluation 0.02 0.00 0.11 0.15 Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

20. Modifications to Bloom’s Taxonomy Florida Taxonomy of Cognitive Behavior (9 levels), 1967 • Knowledge • Knowledge of Specifics • Knowledge of ways and means to deal with specifics • Knowledge of universals and abstract • Comprehension • Translation • Interpretation • Compare, summarize, conclude, show cause and effect relationship, give analogy, perform a directed task Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

21. Active Engagement Levels: Extending Bloom’s Taxonomy Minger, 2000 Rowe & Boulgerides, 1992 Sternberg, 1999 Sanjay Goel, PhD Thesis, 2010 Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com

22. Four-dimensional Taxonomy of Pedagogic Engagements in Software Development Education Inclusion and integration of various ideas and diverse perspectives. Active Engagements Individual engagement problem solving activity Integrative Engagements Reflective Engagements Collaborative Engagements Think deeply to evaluate and refine/transform their own approach and views Collaborate with others to solve problems Sanjay Goel, PhD Thesis, 2010 Sanjay Goel, www.goelsan.wordpress.com